Underground (edition 2011)

This is a great historical fiction book to share with very young children. The text is very simple but has a dramatic affect. The story is carried by the illustrations which makes it easy for young children to follow along and use their imagination. The tone is very clearly depicted through the combination of text and illustrations, mostly use of color. ( )

This is a picture book depicting the journey of a slave family escaping their captives through the Underground Railroad toward freedom. It depicts each step of the way and places very effective small sentences on every page painting a verbal picture of their situation along with the stunning images illustrated throughout the book. Very few words were used, but very few were needed. The combination of the pictures and words made for a very powerful representation of how they must have felt along the way, and how they felt once they reached their freedom.
The book is definitely written for early children, probably from kindergarten to 4th grade or so. Teachers could definitely use this book as a catalyst to start a unit on slavery in the U.S. and the struggles that the slaves had to go through and the chances they took on their life in order to be free from it.
There is an end note at the end of the book that gives further information on what was going on during the time of slavery and what exactly the Underground Railroad meant to those slaves. He takes the time to describe how the escapees must have felt during their escape and even challenges the reader to try and see things in their every day life that have the same “spirit of the underground remains.” He challenges the reader to see how we “strive for freedom every day.”
The author’s note on the inside back cover states that Shane W. Evans has illustrated many children’s books and attributes much of his influence to his travels to Africa, South America, Asia, Europe, the Caribbean, and U.S.

This is a very strong book, but one that can still be used in a 2nd-4th grade classroom. It uses the pictures to tell the story and does not rely on the words, which there are very few of. The colors of the pictures portray the mood. Each page has one, two or three words. This is a great book to use to introduce younger children to the historical events of the Underground Railroad. ( )

This book talks about slavery and how people escaped. The illustrations were done in dark colors to depict the sadness during the escapes, and light when the characters became free. I would use this book for U.S. History and Black History Month. ( )

Genre: Historical Fiction

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